Linear and strip lights are used in a variety of applications and industries to provide light along a length or area. Strip lighting commonly consist of a strip or base that may be flexible. The base provides electrical power to a series of lights, arranged in a generally linear configuration. Linear or strip lighting provides many benefits over traditional lighting, including scalability, configurability, and ability to use in a variety of environments. Linear lighting often utilizes LED lighting components, although other lighting components are also used.
In most instances, strip lighting includes a body or outer shell that both protects the internal lighting components, and in some cases provides diffusion properties for the lighting. One example of this type of linear lighting is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/467,384, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety. The body or outer shell may be made of a flexible material, such as silicon or a polymer, and may be formed by any appropriate method, such as an extrusion process. Processes like extrusion allow the linear lighting to be made in long strips and cut to a desired length. However, other processes such as molding only provide specified lengths of lighting.
Often times linear lighting applications require a break in the lighting or strip, or more than one lighting strip to provide lighting in different directions. In other circumstances, two separate lengths of linear or strip lighting may be needed in order to provide lighting along an entire desired length. In order to power each separate strip of lighting separate power must be run to each strip. However, there are drawbacks to separately powering each strip of lighting.
One primary drawback of separately powering each lighting strip is that it requires excess wiring that is both difficult to install and is unsightly. A cleaner and easier solution is to use power from a first lighting strip to power a second lighting strip, and so on. However, this solution also has difficulties. First, wiring between lighting strips is difficult and may require soldering or other unsightly and difficult wire-connecting methods. Second, any wiring connection between lighting strips often requires a space for the connection, which makes it difficult to have the lighting strips abut one another and create a seamless transition between the first and second lighting strip.
Accordingly, an improved linear lighting connection device and method is need in the industry.